By Erin Odom

I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten.
JOEL 2:25 (ESV)

The attorney’s office was smack in the middle of the small town that housed my childhood church, the town where I had hidden in shame while applying for food stamps. Will and I dropped the girls off at my parents’ house and drove to meet with the attorney. Would he remember me from when I was a child? Would he recognize me as Bob and Becky’s daughter?

As I climbed the creaking steps in the old brick building, I prayed for peace and hoped my face wouldn’t redden when the secretary ushered us into the office. The attorney smiled as we entered, shook our hands, and told us to take seats in front of his desk. He settled in his leather armchair and asked why we had come.

“We own a house in another state that we’ve been unable to sell,” I began. “Will is a teacher at the high school, and we don’t make enough money to cover all of our expenses, much less the house in Mississippi. We’ve drained our savings, and now the bank is proceeding with foreclosure. Someone suggested I declare bankruptcy to protect my assets.”

The only “assets” we owned at this point were some silver platters, our china, and my engagement ring.

“Did you bring all of your debt notes with you?” the attorney asked.

We were puzzled. “What debt notes?” Will asked. “We have our mortgage statement. That is the only debt we have.”

The attorney look surprised. “This is it?” he asked incredulously. “This is the entirety of your debt? Your house note?”

It seemed like no small sum to us, but we assured him we had no more debt. We hadn’t used credit cards since we were married; we had no student loans and no medical bills. We simply had an overwhelming mortgage and no hope of paying it off.

“This is very rare that you have no other debt,” the attorney mused. “Well, you definitely don’t have a spending problem. But it does sound like you have an income problem. Declaring bankruptcy is nothing to consider lightly, but it will protect you from being sued after the bank repossesses the house. Especially with the mortgage being in Erin’s name only, you need the protection.”

“We do have a few assets,” I began. “We have some silver platters, china . . .” I looked down at my fingers. “And my ring. Oh! And we just finished purchasing my parents’ old minivan. It’s officially in our name now. Should we try selling all that?”

The attorney shook his head. “That won’t put a dent in this house note. And at your income level, you won’t be able to pay this off for decades.”

He then did something completely unexpected. He pulled out a Bible and opened to Deuteronomy 15. The passage chronicles God’s command to the Israelites to cancel debts at the end of every seven years. The attorney went on to explain that many people believed the Founding Fathers of the United States had based bankruptcy law on this passage of Scripture. The men who founded our country made a way for those who were crippled by debt to be set free, he explained, just as God arranged for the Israelites to be freed of the debts they couldn’t pay.

I had been a Christian for more than two decades, but I had never contemplated this Scripture. I had no prior knowledge of bankruptcy or the cancellation of debts. Could God use even this humbling moment as further affirmation of His love for us, regardless of our mistakes? In the end, we filed the bankruptcy papers, and by July of that year, we had a court date. We left the girls with my parents and drove to the courthouse an hour away. I was eight months pregnant. My sister had loaned me a dress to wear for Randy and Marilyn’s youngest daughter’s wedding a month prior, and now I wore the same navy blue sleeveless dress with silver sequins to bankruptcy court. I ironed an oxford shirt and suit pants for Will the night before, and he completed his outfit with a tie. We wanted to look presentable and dignified, even though we felt anything but.

We parked our minivan on the street in front of the courthouse. Would anyone notice us? I hoped not. We entered the old brick building and rode a musty elevator to the floor that housed the courtroom. We waited in the hallway on what looked like an old church pew. Someone finally opened the door, and we walked in with others who were there to declare bankruptcy. Technically, I was the one declaring bankruptcy since Will’s name wasn’t on the loan. I vacillated between relief that he was at my side and bitterness that even though we had made these financial choices together, I was the one paying for every single mistake. It was my credit that would be ruined. Here I was again—the model daughter, the overachieving student—with my pride toppling like a stack of Jenga blocks.

I crossed and uncrossed my legs as we waited. I held my belly. Our third daughter kicked and squirmed and reminded me of her presence as we awaited our fate. Would the judge free us from this burden? Either way, I felt ashamed. It wasn’t right to declare bankruptcy. Just like it hadn’t been right to use government aid. Good Christian girls don’t succumb to such lowly desperate measures, I had told myself. But in that moment, we had no other choice.

As we waited, we listened to story after story of boats and vacation homes and credit card bills and all kinds of debt that other defendants were asking the judge to forgive. And, in almost every instant, he forgave them with a strike of his gavel. After waiting for what seemed like an eternity, he called my name.

Will and I rose. I waddled toward the front of the room, clearly due to give birth any day. Our attorney met us at the judge’s desk. “Take a seat,” the judge ordered. “And what debts do you seek forgiven?”

Our attorney took out a green khaki folder and pulled out some paperwork, with our house note front and center.

“Hmmmm,” pondered the judge, as he glanced over the papers and examined the note more intently. “And what else?”

“This is it,” our attorney responded. “It’s just the mortgage.”

“Very well,” the judge swung the gavel onto his block.

It was finished.

Forgiven and Free

Will and I shook hands with our attorney, thanked him, and walked out of the courtroom. An unexpected sentiment filled me as soon as we hit the elevator: relief. On the ride home, I tried explaining the emotions welling inside of me to Will.

“Honey,” I said, “I didn’t realize how heavy this burden had weighed on me until just now. I feel light. I feel free.” Moments before I had been weighed down with the millstone of the home we couldn’t sell. Now the worst-case scenario of homeownership had happened to us, but I was overwhelmed with an inexplicable peace that we were going to be OK. Cars and trucks whizzed by as we drove down Interstate 77, but I was in another world. Tears streamed down my cheeks as I realized the heaviness that had lifted was no comparison to the weight of the debts of our sins that Jesus had paid for on the cross.

Matthew 11:28–30 became a reality for me that day: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

“Thank you, Jesus,” I whispered. “Thank you, Lord.”

Should You Declare Bankruptcy?

Our story is one of forgiveness, redemption, and grace. But would I declare bankruptcy all over again if I had the choice? The answer is difficult. I believe bankruptcy should be a last-ditch effort to salvage one’s finances. We were living on a low income with no relief in sight. Without the protection of bankruptcy, I would’ve personally had to live with the threat of lawsuits from the bank hanging over my head. We had no other debts, but the mortgage was an extremely weighty one.

“The problem with bankruptcy is that it is the government who is saying that you are off the hook with your bills,” wrote SeedTime.com blogger Bob Lotich in a post titled “Bankruptcy and the Bible.” “In most cases the businesses that you owe money to probably would still like to collect payment. It is actually doing a great disservice to the companies that you owe money to. Essentially, the borrower/buyer made a promise to pay, but is allowed (via bankruptcy) to break the agreement.”

In his post, Bob quotes Psalm 37:21, “The wicked borrow and do not repay, but the righteous give generously” and Ecclesiastes 5:5, “It is better not to make a vow than to make one and not fulfill it.”

Although my credit score is now much better, the bankruptcy is still on my record. As much as I combatted anger toward Will because he would make it through that trial without the mark of bankruptcy on his name as well, it was a grace in disguise. We didn’t plan it, but because his credit remained intact, we were able to purchase a home one year after I declared bankruptcy. This would have been impossible if the home loan on the house in Mississippi had been in both of our names. Still, if I were to apply for a job or loan today, potential employees and creditors would see this embarrassing part of my past. Did declaring bankruptcy lift a burden for me? Yes. Would I do it again if I had any other way out? No. I still believe bankruptcy should be avoided at all costs and only used as a last resort.

He Restores

Living on a low income and the humility of surviving on government aid, losing our home, and declaring bankruptcy built our faith like never before. It’s easy to trust God when you feel like your needs are met; it’s a different story when you have to trust Him to meet every single need. During this time we clung to the promise of His restoration, and to the promise that He would use our story—as difficult as it was to live—to somehow impact others and turn their hearts toward Him.

You, too, dear reader, can embrace the hope of rising above your circumstances, even when they are as bleak as ours were. You can pick up the pieces of humbling times and see fruit in the aftermath—relationships restored, burdens lifted, and a heart of positivity that blooms and grows.

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Taken from More Than Just Making It by Erin Odom. Click here to learn more about this title.

When you’re trapped in a cycle of financial frustration, and you feel like you’ve tried everything only to end up with more month than money yet again, More Than Just Making It is your promise and pathway to thriving again.

Take it from someone who’s been there. Erin Odom grew up in the private schools and neatly manicured lawns of Upper Middle Class America, but was thrown into low-income living during the economic crash. She was a stay-at-home-mom, her husband was supporting the family on a teacher’s salary, and despite the fact that they had no debt to their name, they were scrambling to make ends meet. Suddenly Erin found herself standing in line for food stamps, turning down play dates because she couldn’t afford the gas, and ultimately walking into bankruptcy court in the eighth month of her third pregnancy.

More Than Just Making It tells the story of their breaking point, as well as the triumph of their comeback. It took hard work, creativity, and faith in God’s provision to reset their bank account as well as their hearts, but ultimately they found a new way to thrive and freedom from financial anxiety. You can do the same. Learn how Erin and her family saved enough money to put $30,000 down on a home, buy a minivan in cash, and begin sending their daughter to private Christian school. More Than Just Making It will encourage you to rise above your circumstances, empower you with money-saving tips, and reimagine the good life as God designed it outside the myth of the American Dream.

Erin Odom is the founder of The Humbled Homemaker, a blog dedicated to grace-filled living and designed to equip and encourage mothers in the trenches. Her Southern charm and wealth of inspirational, practical content has drawn an audience of millions over the years. Erin and her husband, Will, live in the South, where they raise their four children. Follow Erin at thehumbledhomemaker.com.